Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila speak with Russian Orthodox Church head, Patriarch Kirill, during a service at Blagoveshchensky (the Annunciation) cathedral after Putin's inauguration ceremony. Putin took his oath of office today to become Russia's president for a historic third mandate at a glittering ceremony inside the Kremlin.

Alexei Navalny, a prominent anti-corruption whistleblower and blogger, holds an issue of TimeMagazine, with his photograph, as he stands behind bars in a prison after he was detained in Moscow on Sunday.

Maria BaronovaAP

As we've reported, Vladimir Putin's return to Russia's presidency was fraught with drama. But a disputed parliamentary election and many unprecedented protests later, Putin took the oath of office for a third time today.

Putin took the oath amid protests. The New York Times reports 300 were detained, following the round up of 400 detained after a surprisingly large anti-Putin demonstration popped up on Sunday.

We'll leave you with some pictures that tell the story of today.

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